During prolonged periods of motor vehicle travel the thighs of a person occupying a vehicle seat are subject to muscle fatigue which causes leg strain which, in turn, occasionally may develop into painful cramps. Although the muscle fatigue can be combated somewhat by continuously shifting the person's legs into different positions, this procedure remedies the situation only for a short time. To increase the comfort of the seat occupant, the front edge of the seat may be raised upwardly to provide a support for the thighs of the occupant. An automotive seat construction having an independently supported thigh support section which may be raised upwardly is shown by the U.S. Pat. No. of Lohr 3,600,037. The patent to Lohr discloses a thigh support bolster section supported on a shaft extending longitudinally through the bolster section and which is supported for rotation within supports of the seat molding. The shaft is formed in two sections which are connected by a friction clutch which normally secures the bolster section against pivotal movement.
An automotive seat construction is known in which a front section of the seat may be moved outwardly in a substantially horizontal direction and thereafter supported on a front frame section of the seat. However, during movement of the front seat section, the front seat section must be supported by the occupant of the seat.
Another seat generally of the type to which this invention relates is dislcosed by the U.S. Pat. No. 3,446,532 of Cramer.